Moutai and hairy crabs: Prices for luxury items drop to record lows during China’s Golden Week

SINGAPORE: China’s persistent economic woes have continued into its peak national holiday season this year, with price cuts and weak demand eating into sales of popular luxury items like hairy crabs and Moutai liquor.
The spending slump among Chinese consumers is real, experts and analysts say. Market trends in the first half of 2024 have shown buyers becoming more rational in their spending habits and making more discerning choices, turning to the best deals and discounts online amid continued economic uncertainty. 
The seven-day “Golden Week” holiday, which began on Tuesday (Oct 1), is viewed as an important gauge of domestic demand in the world’s second largest economy. 
Prices of hairy crabs were slashed by merchants and across e-commerce sites and apps as supplies dropped by about 10 per cent this year, according to Chinese media reports.
The palm-sized crustaceans are a popular autumn delicacy, valued by diners for their sweet meat and creamy roe and traditionally handed out as gifts for companies and important clients. 
Wholesale prices for the crabs at a local market in Jinan city, the capital of eastern China’s Shandong province, ranged between 30 and 40 yuan per 500g (US$5.67).
A local merchant named Mr Liang Qing told the South China Morning Post that falling demand drove him to reduce prices of gift certificates this season. “Many customers told us that their business is bad and their budget for gift giving had been reduced by half or more,” he said. 
Higher temperatures and extreme weather conditions this summer, from deadly flooding to scorching heat, also played a part in dwindling supplies, dealers said. 
At their pre-pandemic peak, hairy crabs were known to cost as much as 2,700 yuan for a box of eight. 
Checks by CNA on popular Chinese e-commerce sites and platforms like Taobao, JD.com and Tmall showed the crabs being sold for prices as low as 10 yuan per crab. 
Hairy crab discounts were also being offered online by Alibaba’s supermarket chain Freshippo – original prices of 2,688 yuan for eight hairy crabs were slashed to 1,488 yuan.
Sales of Moutai, known as the national liquor of China, continued to dip during the Golden Week holiday, following declining Mid-Autumn festival sales, reports showed.
The Huanqiu state-affiliated news outlet reported that Moutai prices, even for a special dragon zodiac limited bottle edition, fell to 2,490 yuan a bottle, below the original pricing of around 3,000 yuan a bottle.
“The current drop in the wholesale price of Moutai is related to the drop in consumer demand for liquor during the mid-autumn festival,” read the Huanqiu report. 
Yicai Global, the English-language news arm of the Yicai Media Group, reported the continued decline of wholesale Moutai prices during peak holiday seasons this year, reflecting weak consumption demand.
“A bottle costs 2,365 yuan today… down about 15 per cent from a year earlier,” the report said, adding that liquor bottle prices were even lower as part of multi-packs. 
Speaking to Yicai Global, sellers and merchants said Beijing demand was “particularly tepid” – “likely the softest over the past decade.” Another reason for the decline in wholesale physical prices was cheaper prices online, the report said.
Checks by CNA on Taobao showed prices of a single bottle – at around 2,309 yuan. On the popular budget shopping site Pinduoduo, one bottle of Moutai was priced at 2,270 yuan.
But it wasn’t just the prices of luxury items that declined, China’s tourism industry was bracing for sluggish growth over the national holidays, even as regional governments began distributing cash vouchers to boost spending. 
Costs for domestic flights and hotels are also cheaper this year, experts said, hovering below levels reported a year ago.